


even when faced with who you are supposed to be

by Tobi_Black



Series: Founders Dark Matter AU [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark Matter Fusion, Author loves to chat in the Comments, Chapter 10 has mention of torture – but not explicit, F/M, Foul Language, Gen, M/M, Sage Dammit Madara, Speculation is GOOD, The Founders Dark Matter AU continues in its second installment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-02-07 22:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12850839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tobi_Black/pseuds/Tobi_Black
Summary: They know what their names were, but their pasts - their pasts are shadowed.They must decide who they are - falling into old habits, or creating new ones.Continuation of the Dark Matter AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Continued due to resounding request that I not leave it with that terrible cliff-hanger.  
> (You can thank Umbrella-chan, for that - I would have regardless, eventually, maybe sometime next year?, but you know NEXT YEAR could have meant a month or the actual year with it being nearly December before I realized I hadn't actually posted this to see the light of day - for enthusiastic interest in this AU.)
> 
> This is an informal gift to Divine_Umbrella.

There was a beat of silence following Two’s words, _we’re not here to help these people – we’re here to kill them_ , as they stared at their Most Wanted posters.

One shook his head in denial, “No. That’s impossible. That can’t be right. Can it?”, sounding almost pleading that this will be a _mistake_.

The rest shifted uncomfortably – because while they all had their own issues with the idea of being some of the universe’s most wanted, nothing about One leant to the idea he was a criminal, let alone to one a _S-class: flee on sight_. Particularly as flowers were popping up around him and making the air reek with a bitter, awful smell.

The ‘android’ spoke, “I recovered this data from a fragment of the ship’s logs containing to the crew list. It had been partially encrypted by someone else, but that had been building on my own encryption. The data was mine – there is no cause for doubt to its veracity.”, before pulling up much grainer images, but still just barely recognizable as _them_ , “They also match the Most Wanted posters of the Daimyo’s Guard,” and then a different set of better, but still awful, quality photos, “and that of the Bounty Hunter’s Guild.”, with Four and Six’s actually better quality there than elsewhere.

Two didn’t look the least bit surprised, “It makes sense. It was clear that we were not average merchants. I had my suspicions that some of us had ties with the Bounty Hunter Guild just from their sheer ease with armament. The _Suicide Forest_ – this ship – was hired to do a job that others would consider repugnant, because all of us are already on the Most Wanted list and have need of money that we couldn’t find in other jobs.”.

None of them commented about how they were blatantly ignoring the name change, even if the Android gave Three the side-eye for having done so, and as such, they ignored his, “What!?” in response.

Four spoke up, “Which then leaves the question of _why_ we would need such a large sum when wholesale slaughter does not appear to be a part of any of our reps, on top of most of us apparently being from rival clans who’d been warring for millennia, and there’d have to be a _reason_ why we’d band together.”.

There was a moment of quiet as they processed that, before a scoff broke it.

Three smirked, jerking a thumb towards One, “I can believe a _lot_ of things. Like Two’s a badass with an S-rank flee on sight order. _That’s_ believable. I _don’t_ believe _One’s_ supposed to be the same level of badass.”, waving a hand at the flowers that were multiplying in the air around him, the air already reeking with something just shy of nauseating, “Not when he’s such a _flower child_.”.

The flowers multiplied, as if to prove Three’s point.

There was quiet shuffling from the others, with wincing by Six – because the sentiment was unanimous: no one believed that One was capable of being like _that_.

The ‘android’ pulled up a video that he’d found while searching for information about them, “Flower child he may be. Literally, considering he’s a Senju.”, reiterating that because it was clear they didn’t _understand_ , “He’s a _Senju_. I think you underestimate what sort of damage a Senju like One was, can do.”.

He let the video play.

No one could say anything as it showed a man at a desk overlooking a city, before the whole frame shook as plants burst out of every wall and rattled the room, encasing it in thick vines and twining tree trunks.

Flowers soon sprung up in the thousands in the air of the room, clogging the air and causing the man to choke, hacking as he tried to breathe through the heavy pollen and petals in his throat.

Hashirama Senju walked into the room with a sort of predatory grace, side-stepping the bodies of a pair of men with fungi rapidly growing on their still-twitching corpses with ease, dark eyes furious. With a single flick of his hand, the man that had been at the desk was bound and half-strangled by vines, before he walked up with a dark look on his face, _“Where is my brother?”_.

The video cut out as it was crushed beneath plants.

There was a moment of silence before Six clapped her hand on One’s shoulder, “I take it back. You could be a badass beneath that flower child exterior and giant puppy personality. _Deep_ down beneath.”, looking somewhere between proud and respectful.

Three’s lips thinned, eyes flicking back and forth between One and the picture of Hashirama Senju. He understood that conflicted feeling he had about One now – at how the man was just a giant puppy, but also apparently been an actual threat once.

(The jury was still out if he still was.)

It didn’t make it any easier to believe that One was a wanted criminal of S-rank with a flee on sight order. Not when he hadn’t looked up since the video had played, one hand rubbing at his other arm by the wrist as he chewed on his lip.

Three scoffed, “Our pasts don’t matter as we’re no longer them. Clearly, bits and pieces remain, but fundamentally, One proves that we’re very different to what we are supposed to be.”.

He ruthlessly stomped down the warm feeling in his chest at how One smiled, wide with _dimples_ , eyes bright, “We can be good people!”.

Four pinched his nose and took a deep breath, eyes looking up in askance, muttering something about naivety and the question of how the hell it could exist in a man that should be in all accounts a monster.

He was ignored as Six frowned, gazing out the window to look at the planet below them, “I think we need talk about our next move.”.

The mood in the room dropped at that, because the real question asked had been:  _do we go through with what we were hired to do?_

Even without a word being spoken, or one person shifting, there was a clear divide amongst them about whether they would even _contemplate_ actually going through with such a thing, not when they’d all already agreed the colonists didn’t stand much of a chance at all.

Three smirked at the tension, eyes with a red sheen, “The hag’s right, you know. I don’t wanna be the one to say it, but if any of this stuff is true,”, waving a hand at their posters with the abbreviated version of their rap sheets, “then we came here to do a _job_.”.

One turned with a pouting glare at Three, crossing his arms over his chest, somehow managing to look more nearly-snarling-dog then growling-little-puppy in that moment than he ever had, “You want to go down to the planet and _kill_ those people?”.

It reminded them all that while they might no longer be who they were, the potential was still there, even if it were for different reasons.

Two put an end to One’s curling flickers of Killing Intent, with a quick flick of her hand putting seals over the flowers at a quick worried glance from the ‘android’, who had immediately detected the toxic fumes the flowers were beginning to put off with continued multiplying, “No one’s killing anyone.”.

She narrowed her eyes pointedly at One and Three, then _let_ slip a wide, dangerous smile of her own, “Not here and not now, not by you _two_.”. Letting it be clear that of the three of them listed as _flee on sight_ , who was the most dangerous.

Three glared at Two, nearly challenging, before turning it on One, who had misinterpreted him, perhaps accidentally but perhaps purposely, “I _didn’t_ say I wanted to kill anyone down there. _I’m_ just talking about the people who hired us. The Lightning _Daimyo_.”.

There were winces all around at that. If the records were true, two of them already had problems from two different worlds leaders, and a third after them for failure to complete a ‘job’ would not help matters.

Six flicked her eyes to Four and Two, wondering what had driven their previous selves to go after _Daimyo_ , “Not the sort of people you want to disappoint.”, something driving her to look at a faded scar on her wrist, a paler white old burn in the shape of the kanji for _fire_.

One narrowed his eyes, somehow finding a balance between snarling-dog and growling-little-puppy to make clear his disagreement, “Too bad. I’m no murderer.”, not seeming to notice how behind his back, the ‘android’ had identified which of the sealed flowers had/were releasing toxic fumes and with lightning-quick grasps of his fingers, had gathered them up.

Five made a face at how with a blank expression, the ‘android’ had swallowed the sealed flowers with little more than a blink, then with a slow flick, broke the rest of the seals for the other flowers.

Three jerked a thumb to the screen, “Funny. The screen says otherwise.”, giving a smirk on the edge of mean, unable to resist the urge to test if One _really_ had it in him or if it had been a fluke Two had shut down with her own _kitsune_ -style grin – not having seen more than a quirk of the light over the flowers for just a second.

One nearly squinted as he looked at Three, trying for a more dangerous vibe (and glower) but the faint pout he had ruined the balance he’d achieved, “I don’t care what it says about me.”.

Which was a rather blatant lie – one that was made obvious not by his previous upset, but by how he’d glanced way to the left away from them, shoulders hunching up almost to his ears.

It made Six snicker and ‘whisper’ to Five, “One is a _terrible_ liar.”.

Which made One’s ears burn even as a faint smirk came to the ‘android’ and Two’s faces, and for a full-blown pout, “I am _not_!”. Something they ignored as Four spoke to the ‘android’, “So, have you managed to uncover anything else now that you’ve figured out the encryption?”.

Just as they ignored how One moved to one corner of the room, with his arms wrapped around his knees as he poked at a few of his wilting flowers with a depressive air.

The ‘android’s’ eyes glowed faintly, before giving a bit of a white lie, “Not yet. Most of what I’ve decrypted was corrupted or damaged by the energy surge that woke us up. It will take a bit more time to clean up what I have, and what I haven’t yet decrypted, then piece together everything.”. Choosing to not mention that which he was in the midst of decrypting from the ship that had attacked them – but he’d extrapolated enough to suggest that they’d been attacked by the same people that had hired them. Only, it was still just conjecture until he could decrypt anything about the ship other than its make and model, and place of origin. He reasoned that it would do them no good to think on that at the present moment, particularly when it would mean very little in terms of what their actions would be.

(However, he would alert Two as soon as he had a moment without the rest overhearing, so she could ensure that they would move in haste while he prepped the ship for a quick exit from the planet.)

The serious moment – initiated by both Four and Two as they remembered he’d been decrypting two separate sources of information – was broken by Six, as she turned and gave a feral grin to Three, “So Mr. Flee-on-Sight, how about we try our skills against each other?”.

Three returned the grin and the two were quick to leave the bridge with the promise of violence.

The revelation of their criminal history bothered neither of them – it just affirmed their more violent tendencies.

Two and Four _looked_ ambivalent at the reveal, but Four kept twirling a knife around his fingers as he stared at the image of Hikaku Uchiha, and Two didn’t look at her photo for any longer.

In the quiet, One turned puppy eyes over his shoulder at the rest, hoping to engage _someone,_ but when no one seemed to notice, he slunk off to pout elsewhere – and Five, unsettled by the fact that he _wasn’t listed with the rest_ , left, trying to think of a reason why that would be.

Four looked at the ‘android’ when it was just him and Two, “Can you pull up more detail for our files?”.

It took but a second to expand beyond names, a picture, and a list of crimes to their official government files.

 _Madara Uchiha. Wanted in eight systems for murder, assault, kidnapping, arson, and bribery of officials._  
One known associate: Hikaku Uchiha. Any information regarding his whereabouts will be paid handsomely upon confirmation.  
One known lead: Left home-world in search of missing brother – Izuna Uchiha.  
WARNING: S-CLASS THREAT – ORDERS ARE FOR ALL LAWFULLY EMPLOYED MEMBERS OF DAIMYO’S GUARD TO FLEE ON SIGHT – IF ENGAGED BY A ‘PRIVATE CITIZEN’, KILL, AND BRING THE HEAD BACK TO EARTH DAIMYO

 _T_ _ōka Senju. Wanted in seven systems for murder, assault, smuggling, sentient trafficking, and arson._  
One known associate: Hashirama Senju. Any information regarding her whereabouts will be paid handsomely upon confirmation.  
WARNING: S-CLASS THREAT – ORDERS ARE FOR ALL LAWFULLY EMPLOYED MEMBERS OF DAIMYO’S GUARD TO NOT ENGAGE – IF ENGAGED, KILL

 _Hashirama Senju. Wanted in eight systems for murder, assault, kidnapping, property damage, and bribery of officials._  
One known associate: T _ōka Senju. Any information regarding his whereabouts will be paid handsomely upon confirmation._  
One known lead: Left home-world in search of missing brother – Tobirama Senju.  
WARNING: S-CLASS THREAT – ORDERS ARE FOR ALL LAWFULLY EMPLOYED MEMBERS OF DAIMYO’S GUARD TO FLEE ON SIGHT – IF ENGAGED, KILL

 _Hikaku Uchiha. Wanted in eight systems for murder, assault, counterfeiting, and fraud. Suspect for the disappearance of the Earth Daimyo._  
One known associate: Madara Uchiha. Any information regarding his whereabouts will be paid handsomely upon confirmation.  
WARNING: S-CLASS THREAT – ORDERS ARE FOR ALL LAWFULLY EMPLOYED MEMBERS OF DAIMYO’S GUARD TO NOT ENGAGE –  IF ENGAGED BY A ‘PRIVATE CITIZEN’, CAPTURE ALIVE IF POSSIBLE AND BRING TO THE EARTH DAIMYO WHO WILL PAY TWICE FOR HIM ALIVE

_Mito Uzumaki. Wanted in nine systems for murder, assault, counterfeiting, theft, and the impersonation of government officials from Earth, Lightning, and Water. Wanted in connection to dissolvement of the Wave Daimyo’s position.  
WARNING: S-CLASS THREAT – ORDERS ARE FOR ALL LAWFULLY EMPLOYED MEMBERS OF DAIMYO’S GUARD TO FLEE ON SIGHT – ALL OTHERS, ENGAGE AT OWN RISK OF LIFE AND LIMBS_

It was almost pathetic how little there was on record for them, with the blurry, grainy photos of them just outright _sad_ after seeing the one the Bounty Hunter’s Guild had.

Four raised his eyebrows to his hairline, “Are the governments we’re wanted by just plain _incompetent_? I can think of four different ways, just off the top of my head, that I can improve the quality of any bit of the intel gathered. With this level of pathetic intelligence-gathering, it makes me wonder how the hell they got our _names_ by anything _other_ than us telling them to people’s faces.”.

Two looked at him, “What? I can’t remember anything we did, but this just feels _insulting_. If we are classified as S-class threats wanted across _systems_ , not even planets, then we were less than covert in some – if not all – of this, with chances being a good two-thirds of what we’ve done hasn’t been registered as our crimes.”.

She frowned, agreeing with his point because something about the file, one of the somethings, was how _little_ there was on them.

Four narrowed his eyes at the screen, “I don’t know whether that means they really _are_ just incompetent, or there’s more to it.”, looking at the ‘android’, “If you would go deep-diving on the net for anything about that, I’ll see if I can dig up anything on my end.”, before he left.

(He’d seen those photos before, something about them making him think _he’d_ taken the original, good quality ones they’d pulled up.

It was the same something that made him think he _would_ find more on them where professionals had failed.)

The ‘android’ looked at Two when it was just them, “It would be best to be wary with any future dealings with the Lightning Daimyo or his people.”.

Her eyes were narrowed at the screen, seeming to be trying to get something _more_ from the little they’d gotten on who they once were and thus not hearing him, “Mito?”.

Her gaze snapped to him, “Don’t. Call me Two.”, before his words registered and she frowned, “Can you prove that the Lightning Daimyo not only hired us for this but tried to kill us?”.

He watched her for a moment, eyes glowing faintly as he checked to see if such a development had occurred, “No. Should I continue to look for such proof?”.

She nodded, then took her leave, needing to think over if this changed anything about how they would move forward with the colony.


	2. Chapter 2

Five settled somewhere a distance from the bridge, picking somewhere he could be alone and wrap his arms around his legs, and gaze at the most wanted posters of the rest.

He didn’t notice when he gained company until they were standing directly behind him.

Five twisted with a startled gasp, hand white-knuckled around his lightning baton as he went to slam it at the shins of the intruder.

Who calmly stepped back a step out of reach and spoke in familiar flat tones, “I didn’t mean to startle you.”.

Five glared up at the ‘android’, not fooled, as he could _hear_ the traces of smugness, “You didn’t startle me!”.

The corner of the ‘android’s’ lips twitched in an uptick before he raised an eyebrow, not needing any words to express how much of a blatant _lie_ Five’s last statement was, “My stealth subroutines are _very_ efficient. Are you sure I did not scare you?”.

Five crossed his arms defensively, “You _didn’t_ almost make my heart leap out of my chest or take ten years off my life.”, eyes narrowed, “Dial those subroutines back before you actually _do_ scare someone – or at least say something the next time you walk into a room.”.

He gave a shallow nod before he sat down next to Five, not expressing which he would do even as Five looked at him suspiciously for the lack of a verbal answer – the ‘android’ had already shown a preference for verbally answering, even if it was not expanded on beyond what was deemed necessary – and he didn’t like the look on the ‘android’s face.

Though he could recognize part of that was just the fact that the ‘android’ had a face he just wanted to antagonize.

It was quiet for a moment before the ‘android’ expressed why he had sought out Five for reasons he didn’t understand, “Are you afraid of them now?”.

He just knew that it would destroy One to be someone that couldn’t be looked at with anything other than fear – there was an image just out of reach that haunted the back of his eyelids of a young child with One’s face smiling and laughing and making stupid faces to make two other children laugh.

Five squinted an eye at him, “You think I should be?”.

The ‘android’ didn’t look at him, “They show a history of violence, mental instability, deceit-“, having been able to easily extrapolate from the records any number of reasons why anyone should be afraid of the others.

Five scoffed, “What’s to say I don’t have the same history? Only mine hasn’t manifested as being wanted for murder.”, eyes red-tinted as he met red eyes, “What really matters is where they go from now on.”.

The ‘android’ looked at Five for a long second, unable to find anything but the other’s belief in that statement even when looking for any sign of doubt, “That is potentially a very foolish and dangerous attitude to take if your belief is misplaced.”.

Five raised an eyebrow, “Coming from you, who has already tried to kill us, that statement doesn’t have much weight.”.

The ‘android’ narrowed his eyes, thinking Five wasn’t taking this seriously, “That was the result of a programmed directive which has since been deleted. It could be who they are.”.

Five flung an arm out, “Or it could be like you! Give them the chance to prove you wrong.”.

The ‘android’ raised an eyebrow, “Or I could give them enough rope to hang themselves.”, some part of him wanting to trust One, Six, but it wasn’t logical; there was no logic to trusting _any_ of them.

Five threw his arms up, groaning in exasperation, “Ugh! I see your point, but sometimes you just got to take a chance! Otherwise, we’ll get stuck in old patterns, self-fulfilling our own worst theories, and history will just repeat!”.

There was a moment of silence then, “It makes no sense that you’re the one trying to see the good in the situation.”.

There was a louder groan, “Shut up you heap of metal!”.

Silence fell again as Five leaned back, resting his arms under his head as he looked at the ceiling.

The ‘android’ looked over, “If it is not fear, then why are you upset?”.

Five slapped a hand over his face at how the ‘android’ wasn’t letting this go, words muffled through the flesh but still clear, “What makes you think I’m upset?”.

The ‘android’ gave a slow blink, and decided to answer very literally why he _knew_ Five was upset, “I can see a muscular tension in your jaw and shoulders. I can hear a slight increase in both respiratory rate and heart rate. I can smell a distinct shift in pheromone production-“.

Five groaned again, pink tinting his cheeks and the tips of his ears just barely visible through his fingers and hair, “Okay, okay. I get it, you metal freak. Look, if you want to know, it’s because I’m the only one not in the files. I’m not one of the crew. So how _did_ I get onboard this ship?”.

The ‘android’ looked down at his hands, eyes glowing a faint red as he could tell where each person on the _Forest_ was with barely a thought, “You are here because you are supposed to. You would not still have been on the ship after we left the dock if I did not believe you were supposed to be here.”.

It was quiet again as Five took that in, “That just makes me a bigger question mark. I’m not one of them, but I’m supposed to be here? That means nothing without more detail – detail you can’t remember.”.

The ‘android’ glanced at him, “There may come a time when you’ll consider yourself lucky not to be considered a part of the crew for the same reason that you don’t feel like one of them.”, then stood, pausing for just a moment to listen to Five’s soft, “Well, right now, I just wish I was part of the team.” before he left him there.

~

Three and Six were panting as they went at it.

Neither pulled their punches, barely tried to evade as they slammed against each other.

Six head-butted Three hard enough for him to see stars after they got locked into a stale-mate grappling with each other and were shuffling over the mat as they each tried to shove the other down.

His eyes were bright even as his nose began to bleed, “Right, you motherfucking hag, that’s how you fight. Cheap shots.”, giving off a red glow before he hooked one leg behind her knee and pushed her down, knee digging into her stomach, “You know, hag, this whole thing has got me thinking.”.

She sneered, “Don’t bother. Wouldn’t want you to strain something, bastard.”, before she managed to kick him off and they circled each other again.

Three flipped her off for her comment, “Now, which one of us do you think’s got the baddest rep?”.

She looked at him disbelievingly for a moment, half expecting for him to take advantage of the seemingly random conversation he’d started to try and one-up her, before she realized he was serious, “What?”.

He straightened, gesturing out, “I mean, just based on what we know about each other – not including those fucking weird wanted posters – which I’m aware is not a lot to go on, but how would you rank us in order of Most Wanted, from like “super bad-ass” all the way on down to “cause for concern”?”.

Six just _looked_ at him for a moment, trying to figure out what was _wrong_ with the man that he disrespected their fight like this.

He went on, “For instance, I’d put Boss Lady in first, on account of her _grin_ earlier,”, almost shuddering in memory of it if he didn’t half want to challenge her to see how she backed up that smile, “and her general badattitude. Then I’d slide right in there at second-“.

She scoffed at that, “Your pansy ass couldn’t handle second. You can’t handle _me_.”.

Five glared at her, “Fuck that, I totally can!”.

She raised an eyebrow, “You were _just_ trying. Did you _win_?”, and he crossed his arms, “Not yet! But neither were _you_!”.

They both huffed and turned away, refusing to look at each other for a long moment.

Six broke the quiet, “Four would be second. The bastard wouldn’t hesitate to strike a killing blow in a fight. Then, _maybe_ , we’d tie for third – for now.”.

Three made a face, “For now. Flower Child and the kid tied for last place cause he’s got a vicious streak – you should have seen him try to electrocute the Tin Can by swinging that electric stick of his to his balls.”.

She smirked, something approaching a leer on her face at hearing that, “Go Pretty Boy, go.”.

Three sneered at her, “Gross.”, and she’d snorted, “Like you wouldn’t fuck the ‘tin can’ if you thought you wouldn’t get your ass beat trying.”, before squinting at him when he didn’t wince, “Or maybe, you’d _like_ that.”.

Her grin was sharp, “If Metal Face doesn’t kill you when you come onto him, then you get to say nothing while I flirt with Pretty Boy.”, and he darted forward, swinging at her face while she just laughed, “Yeah, _try_ , fuck face! It’ll be good practice for your fore-play.”, dodging and taking her own swing at him.

~

Four was in his quarters, fiddling around the settings of the net the ‘android’ had given him access to.

Apparently, it had been restricted with his security protocol running at a B-level threat, to keep any messages from going out that could expose them to unnecessary danger while running a filter for anything that came up about them

Before he even realized what he was doing, Four had changed the filters a little, added in two more: a snapshot he had from a camera aboard the ship of Five; and about Uchiha Izuna.

He found almost exactly what he expected to find: a photo of someone clearly an Uchiha, maybe a younger Three or Five from over ten years ago, and **_Abducted – presumed dead_**.

Then the system gave him something else, something that had been found since the last time Hikaku had logged in for updates of a thousand and one different things – _the price of rice, the number for an arms dealer, hundreds of photos for bounties_ – and it was a video.

A video of them docked somewhere on the edge of some grimy city, the camera pointed out to the city from the hangar door.

His eyes zoomed in on how the video was showing the ‘android’ returning from the city carrying a small . . _bonsai_ , going inside the ship – only the camera could see how he knew he had a tail even if he didn’t give any sign but a quick flicker of his eye back and the ‘careless’ drop of a few credits. On his tail was Five, looking scruffy, dirty, and pale, shiftily looking around every time he bent down to pick something up – and Four realized that the ‘android’ had been leading his tail along the whole time by dropping credits as if there was a hole in the bag.

It wasn’t the sneakiest, but Five looked thin, desperate, and didn’t hesitate even as he watched warily and suspiciously at the ‘android’.

The video cut off after the ‘android’ had presumably lured Five to the ship.

It was easy work to correct and age the old photo of Izuna and line it up with his photo of Five.

He didn’t doubt his first instinct after seeing the hollows of thin throats and sharp jaws, but it confirmed the theory.

Five was Uchiha Izuna.


	3. Chapter 3

Two had finished brewing tea from the stores the ‘android’ had shown her before she’d gone to the dining area and sat down, _intending_ to put serious thought into whether it _might_ be better to do the job they were given to get the Lightning Daimyo off them, or if it would be better to completely abandon it and help the colonists.

She just kept getting distracted by how the ‘android’s hand had lingered on the tea which he’d clearly hidden away for safe-keeping, and either had done as he had with remembering about the Senju and Uchiha – for good reason apparently – or it had been one of the first non-vital things he’d thought to check for on the ship. The wanting _look_ he’d given to the dried leaves had her again, re-evaluating how much of him was still human.

It wasn’t often, after all, for a human who crossed the line of being more than fifty percent cyborg, to still have human desires, have _wants_. Not when they no longer had the parts to satisfy those desires.

Two was pulled out of those thoughts and their implications when One came in and sat to the left of where she’d sat at the head of the table, “I’ve been thinking,”.

She gave him a deadpan look, “Yeah, you need to get that under control.”, already not liking this conversation if One had skipped trying to play on their conflicted feelings to offer redemption in the form of helping the downtrodden.

He continued on with a bit of a pout for her words, “those weapons in the cargo hold, at first, I thought that it meant we were the ones who were supposed to help the miners, that we were to come to their rescue. But now, I’m wondering if it meant we killed those already coming to help them and heisted their delivery.”.

She took a sip of her tea, having a suspicion on where he was going with that, and cut him off before could dig into his emotional plea, “I’m aware that the Lightning Daimyo isn’t likely to let this go – and that he’ll just send someone else. But we need to stick to the plan. The miners get half the weapons, and a fighting chance. An actual fighting chance because whoever the Daimyo can hire on short notice, will be sub-par compared to us, and they’ll actually stand a chance.”, taking another sip before continuing, “And the Lightning Daimyo will just think we died in an accident in space – because those happen to even the best prepared and ace pilots – because we never finished the job. Which will allow us to disappear for a while we figure out our shit with our missing memories, without being hunted.”.

One frowned, leaning forward, “But we can do _more_. Go all the way. _Commit_ to something worthwhile. We can fight _with them_.”, a serious look on his face, “Give them _more_ than a fighting chance – an actual hope of coming through this _all alive_.”.

She leaned back in her chair, thinking of what the ‘android’ had told her, waiting to see if One could produce an actual argument without that piece of information, “I’m not saying we have to spend the rest of our lives doing good deeds trying to make up for crimes we don’t remember doing. I’m saying we should do what’s _right_.”.

He leaned forward, a hand around the necklace beneath his shirt, “These people need help, and we’re here. If we ignore their pleas for help, we’ll be just as guilty for their deaths as if we killed them ourselves. Deaths that _will_ happen, because the Daimyo will just send soldier after soldier at them until they get what they want. We _need_ to give these people breathing room – and see if there’s anything to be done to stop future attempts at slaughtering them without repercussions.”. He pulled out the necklace, frowning down at it, before sighing, deflating some from where he’d been passionately trying to persuade Two, “Give them two days – let us stick around for two days. Maybe we didn’t kill their aid, but if we did, maybe we can convince them to call on that alliance again to send more help so they aren’t left defenseless when we leave.”.

Two was quiet as she finished her tea, smiling faintly behind the rim of her cup, “Two days. We stay two days as we give them time to call on their alliance for aid, and for them to get here.”.

He nodded, looking tired even as she appraised him anew – he’d still been overly emotional with his plea, but he’d also given a compromise and a deadline for their aid.

She didn’t look at him again as she left to grab the rest of her tea and strategize in her quarters, not wanting to see how she’d made him face the fact that _knowing_ and _wanting_ to _do_ what was _right_ was very different from what was actionable sometimes.

(She liked his optimism, his drive to do _right_ , but if he couldn’t pull his head out of the clouds to even _acknowledge_ there _was_ a ground, they would be having a lot of problems in the future.)

~ *

Six was leaning back in her chair in the _Leaflet_ , polishing her naginata with her feet on Three’s headrest as he flipped switches and readied the shuttle.

Once it was on and good to go, he turned around, smacking her feet down, “Seriously, what’s with that sword? I can appreciate a good blade, but that’s just over-sized.”.

She grunted at the swipe, quick to twist her grip until she was able to rest the flat of the long blade against his neck, “It’s intimidating at first glance. And it’s good for cutting large swathes through multiple enemies. It has its disadvantageous at close-quarters, but that close and I can break their neck with my hands.”.

His gaze narrowed, “It’s tall, not giant – I don’t see why it would be _intimidating_. And it’s not like your wielding a blade that weighs as much as you so it’s not like they would be intimidated by the thought of you waving it around.”, pushing her blade aside where she laid it across her lap once more, drawing his own weapon and resting that arm on his headrest, “It’s not like it’s as effective as a gun at long-range, hag.”.

Six smirked, “I could have your head cut off before you managed to even unholster, let alone aim and fire.”, eyes challenging.

Before they could do more than tighten their grips, itching to test that as despite their recent _understanding_ , neither were much interested in actually getting along for more than not going out of their way to kill each other, Two turned the corner into sight.

One immediately perked up from where he’d been slumped into the seat behind Six across from where Five had been mooning at her, missing how Six and Three separated and looked away with an air of _we weren’t doing nothin’_ , smiling, “Two!”.

She returned his smile with a small one of her own, “Hey. I need to talk to you.”.

Three smirked, “Oooh, you’re in _trouble_ ~”, amused by the glare he was given as he redirected his attention to the pale shadow at her back.

The ‘android’ gave him an unimpressed look before walking forward once One had gotten up and followed Two out of the _Leaflet_ , and sat in the co-pilot seat.

Knowingly stepping on Three’s foot as he passed.

His screech of, “ _YOU ASSHOLE!_ ” carried to where One and Two had paused once outside of view of the passengers of the _Leaflet_.

Two started as they ignored Three’s, “WHAT IS _WRONG_ WITH YOU!? YOU DON’T JUST _STEP_ _ON_ _SOMEBODY!_ ”, “Look, I may have been a little hard on you before. But there’s no room for independent action right now, not with so many variables in play. It’s too big of a risk just being here after we realized that this was where we were heading after being attacked en-route, let alone to linger for anything. As much as we all want to help – this is far too big of a risk, and we’ve already compromised about even sending them weapons.”.

She met his eyes, trying to implore on him without actually saying the words that until they knew for sure whether they’d been double-crossed by the Lightning Daimyo, they needed to stay well out of anything with them involved so they didn’t make an enemy where there wasn’t one before, “We need to stick together and watch each other’s backs. Do you understand what I’m saying?”.

He was quiet for a moment, watching her as he tried to understand what she wasn’t saying that was so important, “I, I think so.”.

Two looked at him, _really_ looked at him, trying to find some sign that he _really_ understood, then stepped closer, “Have a safe flight.”, passing by him to leave for the bridge.


	4. Chapter 4

The colonists were quick to help them unload the weapons off the _Leaflet_ ; Six and Three getting in a bit of a competition about who could carry more at once. A few of the colonists got in on it – including the leader, Sarutobi himself, laughing as he moved a little over half of what Six could, “My, you’re a strong one!”

Five narrowed his eyes, pouting slightly as he lifted more than Sasuke but Six graced _him_ with a smile and a laugh while she shifted everything to one arm and flexed the muscles of her other arm, “I am! Got to keep these heathens in line after all.”

It didn’t mean that his cheeks didn’t color a bright red at the sight.

Shimura sighed, “Mari will flirt outrageously with _me_ if _you_ keep flirting, Sasuke. _My_ wife will take _your_ wife’s flirting as a challenge – and there’s no winning for losing when those two get started.”, wincing as he remembered the last _seven_ times they’d renewed their rivalry.

Six grinned, looking between the two men, “Would that flirting extend my way?”, waggling her eyebrows, “I like ‘em _feisty_.”

Five was redder than a tomato, and both older men colored a bit themselves, sharing a look, “Err,”, thinking that _yes, they would_ , if for no other reason than to remind them that turnabout was fair play.

Three kicked at her leg, “Eww, I don’t need to see you flirting, hag, it’s bad enough how you eye Boss Lady and Trouble.”

She kicked him back, “I can appreciate all sorts – the shape and size and gender don’t matter. I like them with _personality_.”

They were devolving into seeing who could get hit hardest and who could get take a kick and not drop their heavy loads, as Shimura looked at Five, “I assume you’re ‘Trouble’?”

He nodded even as he winced at how Six didn’t even blink at a loud solid knock against her shin from Three.

Any further conversation was interrupted when the ‘android’, having gotten the last of the weapons while everyone else was _distracted_ , slipped across the room without a sound, and with a smirk to Five as the other realized _what the rust-bucket was about to do_ , stepped just behind them, “I was unaware I had _two_ over-grown toddlers amongst my crew.”

Both of their eyes went wide in surprise, and as one, they lashed out a fist towards the ‘android’s chest – through Three’s looked more like a flail as he screeched, “DON’T FUCKING _DO_ THAT!!”

The ‘android’s tone went deadpan, and his eyes were smug, “Did I scare you?”, even as he calmly side-stepped out of the way like it was nothing.

Six’s eyes narrowed, “You _fucking cat-!_ ”, before One loudly clapped his hands together, “WELL! I think we’re done here?”

Sasuke stepped next to him after putting his boxes of weapons down, sliding one arm around his shoulders, “Nope. Not done. Got to thank you for your trouble!”, starting to drag him deeper into the colony.

The Shimura stepped towards the ‘android’ as Three and Six gave each other challenging looks while falling into step with Five who’d eagerly followed Sasuke, one on each side and bickering about the other’s presence there, “Sasuke might by an easily excited monkey eager to celebrate any good fortune, but the thanks is genuine.”

Red eyes slid to look at the older man in the latter half of his prime, “No thanks are necessary, Norio Shimura.”

Norio looked at the ‘android’ for a second longer than necessary, unable to think of a moment when his name had been said in their hearing but remembered their meeting, before addressing what had bounced around in his head since they’d offered to give them weapons, “What are you going to tell your employer about your missing cargo?”

The ‘android’ was aware of the scrutiny, but his eyes were tracking the four ahead of him even as he ran scans on the surrounding area, “Intergalactic transport is a risky business. Cargo gets misplaced or stolen all the time. It’s not uncommon for any crew in the business to be robbed on a fairly regular basis. The statistics are reported at three out of ten transports suffer robbery by pirates.”

He’d just developed a more in-depth mapping of not just the surrounding land, and the warehouse, but of both the mine and the tree-top houses, and was devoting a section of his processing power for suggestions of where they develop plans to ambush and create defensive lines, when Norio smiled.

He looked at the man as his gaze drifted to where Hiruzen and Danzo were trying to be sneaky while peeking around a corner to watch them, “You’re good people.”

One winced notably at Norio’s words, while Three and Six went quiet, their bickering fading off, before One spoke, “No, we’re not.”

Sasuke grinned, watching as his grandson realized they’d been seen and dropped the act to run over and sidled up to the ‘android’, Danzo following soon after with a faint blush, “You’ve helped us when you didn’t have to. You don’t know how many people have ignored our pleas for assistance over the years when we had nothing to give in return. _You_ didn’t. That makes you good people to _me_.”

Danzo looked long-suffering as Hiruzen wrapped one arm around his shoulders and was half-draped over his back as he looked up admiringly at the ‘android’.

The ‘android’, raised an eyebrow questioningly at the kid, waiting for him to speak even as he addressed Norio, “It would be in your best interest to contact the Yamanaka-Nara-Akimichi alliance again. Those weapons will even the odds in your favor, but right now, you are standing alone against a Daimyo’s interests. They’ll send over more and more people for every person you stop, and your numbers will not replenish fast enough to make it too costly to continue before they outright overwhelm you. As is, I’ve calculated your odds of keeping this planet and even just a percentage of your lives to be 7.3 percent chance of success. With the alliance, your odds triple just from their presence.”

He looked at Sasuke, “If you do not have any more funds, I would recommend offering them an exchange of services. I’ve noted that you have three uncommon plants just in the nearby vicinity that would be worth establishing trade long-term, not to mention the estimated hundreds more elsewhere on the planet that would suit all three clans’ usage and would get you at least an in-person visit for them to gauge value. Considering their reputation, I would say that the worse thing they would ask in return, is to create an outpost here.”

Both of the kids were looking at him admiringly now, as Norio and Sasuke shared a look, looking contemplative while they lead them out of the warehouse towards the forest and where the majority of the colonists were.

~

Two was keying in the code for a room when Four leaned against the wall behind her, “I think the ‘android’ knows far more than he’s telling us.”

The door slid aside, but Two didn’t go in as she turned to look at him, “What makes you think that?”

Four casually flipped a knife over his fingers, “I hacked a few video feeds from our departure point – one of the few pieces of data about this voyage _not_ fried is where this ship left from. He is the single denominator to getting the six of us all here, together, on this ship. I’d wager there was a _reason_ – and that he may remember a bit more than he’s telling.”

She raised an eyebrow, patiently waiting for him to continue, “First off, this is technically _your_ ship. I did some digging, and found a record of an under-the-table purchase by you of this ship – after a meeting by our android. The recording of that meeting was scrambled, and encrypted, and really the only thing recognizable was two very distinctive heads – yours and his. Following that, it appears you approached Six, and by extension, or as a go-between to, One. You reached out to me, and got by extension, Three, and our ‘android’ lured Five here.”

This was news to Two, even if it only partly explained why the hell Five was on the _Forest_ , “Did you find anything to explain why our ‘android’ sought out Five? And what do you mean _lured_?”

Four was quiet for a moment, “Yes. Five is Izuna Uchiha – the missing younger brother for Madara Uchiha. He’d been missing for ten years, taken by slavers from the Uchiha compound, and our ‘android’ recognized him in Ame’s spaceport. It’s unclear if that was why you were there in the first place, or if while you were there, he saw Five and simply acted on it.”, before smirking faintly, “He lured him by leaving a trail of credits behind him for a thief to follow and grab.”

Two watched him for a moment, “That merely details that our ‘android’ was maneuvering us before we lost our memories – why do you think he still knows more than he’s saying?”, sensing there was something more.

Four met Two’s eyes for a long moment, “I’ve looked at some of surviving logs from before our memory was wiped. He did not create a triple redundancy for his own memories until shortly before we lost ours – it implies that it was no accident that stole our memories _and_ he knew about it.”

Two’s eyes narrowed at the revelation, before leading the way to the bridge, having every intention of calling the ‘android’ back early to get some answers before some of the less level-headed could witness the interrogation.

~

Several of the colonists were waiting for them not far out from the warehouse.

Three was eyeing the _Leaflet_ just within sight, when a Sarutobi – identifiable by their dark tan and darker hair and eyes – sidled up in front of him, “Thanks for helping us.”, smirking as he stepped closer until there was barely any space between them.

Three returned the smirk, eyes turning the slightest tint of red, not seeing how one of the other colonists behind the Sarutobi took a hasty step back, paling at the _hunger_ in his gaze, “The bloodthirsty looks in your eyes at the sight of our guns is all the thanks I need.”.

The Sarutobi pushed that hair’s breadth closer, “I wouldn’t mind seeing your _guns_.”, waggling his eyebrows while one hand slid between them so that there was no confusion on _exactly_ what he meant.

And _that_ was when Three crashed and burned.

He leaned forward to push further into his admirer’s space, bumped knees, and got caught in the nose with the Sarutobi’s forehead when he lost his balance and caught himself with the front of Three’s shirt.

Three was going red even as blood dripped down his chin from his nose, looking like he was trying to decide if he should _continue_ despite the mishap and pain in his face or strangle the idiot, when there was a snort from behind him

Three whirled around, eye twitching and finger jutting out, “SHUT THE FUCK-!”, already halfway to jumping down the throat of whoever was laughing at him, when he saw it was the ‘android’.

There was quiet as Three’s brain rebooted at the sight of open amusement on the ‘android’s face, at the _smile_ and _twinkle_ in red eyes, before the fact that the ‘android’ had laughed _at his failure_ registered, “WHAT’S SO DAMN FUNNY, YOU FUCKER!?”

Six smirked as she started snickering at how red Three had gone, putting a tomato to shame, “You.”.

His finger shook from where it was still in the air, directed at the ‘android’ and Six, as he turned even redder, eyes narrowing, sounding a bit like a distressed tea kettle while trying to find words, before he just lunged, “FUCKING FIGHT ME, HAG! RUST BUCKET!”

Six narrowed her eyes, sneering, “Bring it, bastard,” as the ‘android’ looking at Danzo and Hiruzen who’d shifted to behind him instinctively at Three’s anger, rolled his eyes.

He wasn’t at all trying to be subtle as he addressed the colonists as a whole, “Excuse my crewmember, he’s an easily excitable over-dramatic asshole. He’s harmless – just loud. Ignore his screeching.”

Everyone ignored Three’s “WHAT THE FUCK YOU TIN CAN!?”

A few relaxed from where they’d tensed at Three’s excessive volume, before someone hollered, “You should hear when a Sarutobi and a Shimura get into it! They’re just as loud!”

Three sulked at being ignored, Five patting his shoulder consoling even as Sasuke and Hiruzen pouted and Norio and Danzo scowled for indirectly being called loud drama queens.

~

Four had just stepped onto the bridge when Two spoke, staring at a magnified section of the sky over the planet, “A ship just dropped out of FTL.”

He eyed the distant ship, barely able to recognize it as a battleship, having a suspicion on who would show up now, but wanted to hear it confirmed, “Whose and what kind?”

Two’s eyes were narrowed, and she was very still as she softly said, “A Lightning Systems destroyer.”


	5. Chapter 5

Four and Two watched as a shuttle was launched from the destroyer, headed towards the planet’s surface.

Two quickly reached over at a console, tapping at buttons and shifting through systems, trying to find something specific, “We’ve got to our people off that planet. Can you try to contact the _Leaflet_ and warn them?”

Four nodded, going to the console completely dedicated to handling communications – when not done or handled by an android – frowning when he discovered an interference hindering his first attempt, and his second, before the third made it through.

There was no response, “They aren’t answering.”

Two’s eyes flicked over to the destroyer again with the shuttle out of sight after entering the atmosphere, “Shit. Try again.”

Four was doing just that when there was an incoming communication, “We’re being hailed by the other ship.”

Two grit her teeth as she _finally_ got close to the system she wanted, “Ignore it. Continue hailing the _Leaflet_.”

He eyed the other communication, but ignored it for the moment, hoping that just because they weren’t answering, that they couldn’t hear the intercom in the shuttle, “ _Leaflet,_ this is the _Forest_. You’ve got trouble headed your way. Cloud soldiers on a shuttle aimed for the colony. _Get out of there_.”

~

One was sulking at a table with Six, all but pouting into his alcohol while there was a merry gathering going on around him complete with loud banging of chairs and barking laughs.

Cheers erupted around them as Three slammed back a drink to match Sasuke – who had challenged him to a contest on who could hold their liquor better, and Three had been unable to resist. Six was pouting a bit herself at not being a part of the contest – she was _sure_ she would win _easy_ – but she’d seen how One had looked one moment from slinking away to do something _monumentally_ stupid, and had dragged him to a table.

One’s cheeks were a bit rosy from the two beers Six had shoved his way as she’d downed her own two, slamming them down on the table before addressing him, “Stop moping already. We’ve done everything we _can_ to help them – even gone above what with the ‘android’s ideas – short of staying here and dying with them.”

He sipped at his third beer, “We’re drinking their drink, eating their food, and we’re just going to let them _die_. Don’t you feel guilty?”, sinking down into himself a little more even as he looked around for where Five was in a competition with some of the colonists in a target-hitting contest – and trying to spot their ‘android’.

Six winced at his wording, draining her drink and waving down one of the Sarutobi passing out more for another, “Yes. But this isn’t our problem. Two had a point – we can’t get involved when we already are going to suffer repercussions from who we were. The best course of action we can take is getting as far from here as soon as possible, so the Lightning Daimyo thinks we died – then go to ground for a bit until we sort a few things out. We have our own problems that need dealing with before we can go helping others.”

One sipped at his drink, quiet for the moment as he watched a pink-cheeked Five win another round, puffing up a little every time he caught Six’s eye, clearly showing off. Six didn’t look long, but her eye kept returning there, more than Five saw, and there was an indulgent look in her gaze and an approving tilt to her smirk.

She caught his eye again, and held it before mouthing something that One didn’t catch, but made Five turn redder than Three had any time earlier, before quickly turning around and proclaiming something to those around them that made them laugh very loudly and smile looking between Five and Six.

Her smile dropped when he mumbled into his drink, “Maybe we should tell them the truth.”

Her gaze was sharp, and she’d appeared to have quickly sobered up from where she’d been almost tipsy, “What, that we’re mercenaries who were here to kill them? That those guns we gave them were meant to kill them? That we would have slaughtered every man and woman – would have had our ‘android’ take care of the children?”

One flinched, but Six didn’t let him retreat, “Telling them won’t make a difference. That isn’t being kind or helpful – that’s just being stupid and foolhardy. It’ll do nothing but cause problems. For all we know, we _didn’t_ intercept their help, and telling them otherwise takes away their hope.”

One was all but slumped into the table, looking pathetic with the guilt and feelings of helplessness about this – it went against his very nature not to try and help, but the idea of causing more problems for them all just assuage some guilt was twisting him up worse, “Maybe. Maybe not.”

Six sighed, trying to ignore her own guilt about not just the situation but having to take him down like that to make sure he _didn’t_ do something stupid, before he perked up, a determined glint in his eye, “But _we_ might.”

Six let her head hit their table when her hand slipped in her surprise that he would try that, “Don’t even _think_ about it,”, before raising her head up enough to give him a flat look, “Two will have our _heads_ if you aren’t on that ship with us.”

He continued on like she hadn’t said anything, “We’re very, very bad people who’ve done some very bad things. This is our chance to put our unique skill set to good use. We stand alongside these miners and, when the Lightning Daimyo sends soldiers, we hurt them, hurt them so bad they think twice about bothering with this planet.”

Her eye twitched at being steam-rolled over, _trying_ to bolt the door before _that_ animal escaped, “Two will have _our_ heads – but _you_ , I think she’ll go for something _more_ if you do anything but what we have.”

Then she smirked, and it wasn’t kind, “Though you’re nothing but predictable, thank the Sage for that. The ‘android’ told me you would say all of that, word for word. I’m sure he’ll do whatever it takes to bring you back with us, _including_ knocking you out and dragging you back – by your _hair_ , I suspect – if necessary. I’m pretty sure that’s the main reason why he came down with us.”

He sagged, “Really?”, and Six just raised an eyebrow at him, holding his gaze past an uncomfortable length, “Yeah. You’re an oblivious fuck, so you didn’t notice – through likely neither Five or Three have either, or at least Three – but he’s done some subtle adjusting for your preference. The environmental controls are a bit higher and humid than normal, and he always sees to your needs first. I’m about eighty percent sure he’s done the android equivalent of imprinting on you.”

He sputtered, as red as Three, who was swaying in his seat across from Sasuke whose only sign of inebriation was his pinked cheeks, but couldn’t say anything legible before Five darted over to their table as fast as his tipsy legs could take him, bright red, “I won.”.

Six let One go with only an eyebrow raise, and he quickly escaped the conversation by seeing to it that Three didn’t slip off his chair as he looked like he would at any moment while Sasuke crowed about being the undefeated champion of drinking. Then she turned to the heavily blushing Five with a smirk, “I did say that if you won, I’d reward you, didn’t I?”.

She reached out and caught the front of his shirt, pulling him closer until their faces were so close together that their breathe mingled, and his eyes fluttered before he straight-up fainted when she kissed his cheek.

Amongst laughter and cat-calls, she stood to catch him in a princess carry, and began to walk out, calling out to Three and One as she did, “I’m taking Sparky here back to the _Leaflet_ , and it’s about time we’re leaving – the Princess must be getting anxious.”

Three swayed as he stood, half taking a step forward with the intent to play chaperone to be sure Six didn’t take advantage of Five, but tipped over. He only didn’t hit the floor as One slid over to his side, sliding his arm over his shoulders with his own cheeks rosy, “Watch your hands Hag!”, making an exaggerated _I’m watching you_ gesture at her that she just laughed at as she left.

Sasuke clapped One on the back, voice far louder than necessary, “Go on ahead boys, you don’t want to leave the ladies waiting!”, knocking him off his feet and causing them to stumble, before they made to follow Six.

~

Unlike the rest of the crew, the ‘android’ did not join in on the celebrations – he had no interest in drinking, even if he _could_ properly process the alcohol.

Instead, he allowed himself to be lead off by Hiruzen and Danzo.

The two boys were going back and forth about some plan.

“You dumb monkey, your grandfather won’t agree in the slightest to let us!”

“I know that! And don’t call me dumb!”

“So you finally admit you’re a monkey?”

“You bastard!”

“I don’t know who you’re calling a bastard, my mother was married.”

“UGH! Is your default setting to be an asshole!?”

“You bring out the best in me, monkey.”

“Quit it out!”

“I only will because you don’t seem to understand your hare-brained plan won’t work.”

“UGH!”

“Not only will _your_ grandfather never agree, but _mine_ will make sure we are always within sight after you ask.”

“Then we don’t ask! Grandfather always said it was better to beg forgiveness than ask permission for opportunities that can’t be missed.”

He watched as Danzo made an extremely disgruntled face at the smirking Hiruzen, but he didn’t argue anymore – even if he didn’t agree with the manner it would be gone about, it was clear he was in favor of the objective of whatever this plan was.

Hiruzen span around then, smiling wide as he noted the barely visible cord around the ‘android’s neck showing that he was wearing the necklace he’d given him, “So, what do we call you?”

The ‘android’ blinked, and Danzo explained, “It didn’t escape our notice that none of you said any of your names. We figured you had your reasons, and you did help us out so we weren’t going to pry, but while all the rest got some sort of nickname – the best you got was a bunch of insults from the loud angry one.”.

Hiruzen looked at him expectantly, almost bouncing in place before, without looking, Danzo caught his shoulder and _squeezed_ , “The reason why they did not call me a name was because I do not have one – I do not need one as an android.”

Hiruzen yelped, then punched Danzo in the shoulder in retaliation, before frowning at the ‘android’, “All people should have names. You’re a person, you deserve a name.”

Danzo smacked him back, “You think to ask if he wants one, you gorilla?”

Hiruzen dodged, “Stop calling me a monkey, eagle nose!”, then narrowed his eyes at the ‘android’, “Do you _want_ a name?”

The ‘android’ watched the two squabble for a moment, thinking back on the wanted poster with his face, before nodding, and he _knew_ what name would be his, “Tobirama. That is my name.”.

Hiruzen paused with one of his feet on Danzo’s stomach, one hand in his hair, and Danzo with an elbow in Hiruzen’s chest, leg wrapped around the Sarutobi’s as he beamed, “Tobirama!”.

He kicked Danzo away before sidling up close to the freshly-dubbed ‘Tobirama’, “So, Tobirama, is your crew looking for any more members?”.

Tobirama gave a slow blink as Danzo straightened, dusted himself off, and cold-cocked Hiruzen across the face before standing on his other side, “What the idiot wants to know is if your crew would be amicable to letting us hitch a ride. We would like to explore the stars once this mess is taken care of.”

Hiruzen glared at Danzo for a moment, before sticking his tongue out in a show of maturity, yelping when Danzo caught it, “Do you have to act like a four-year-old?”

The Sarutobi smirked as he started drooling on the other teen’s hand, causing him to quickly release his tongue with a disgusted noise, “Only when you do.”

Tobirama had every intention of firmly refusing the two – as _no_ , there would be no more new crew members, and _no_ , they wouldn’t be taking them anywhere as were leaving _before_ any fight got here – when there was an urgent _ping_ from the ship.

Between one blink and the next, his eyes glowed red as did his markings when he received Two’s message regarding a Lightning Systems destroyer in orbit – and that a shuttle had been launched in their direction.

Before either boy could blink, Tobirama had grasped them by their collars and was making back toward the bulk of the colony at a sprint.


	6. Chapter 6

Throughout the colony, klaxons sounded, able to be heard by everyone no matter where they were or what they were doing.

Someone had jerry-rigged it, and a peculiar high-pitched screech had been added to the usual slaver alarm – meant as a warning of the approaching shuttle.

(Amongst the colonists celebrating the resurgence of hope with the given weapons, as the miners rushed after Sasuke, Three staggered as his support left him.

His eyes narrowed at the guilty look One paused to give him, “Don’t fucking-!”, but One didn’t give more than that second’s pause.)

~

Four was still trying to hail the _Leaflet_ as Mito got to the hidden communication system that allowed direct communication to the synced android when off-ship, “ _Leaflet_ , this is the _Forest_. Are you there? Answer me!”

His knuckles were white as he gripped the console when there was still no response, “We have to consider the possibility that they have already encountered the Cloud soldiers from that shuttle.”

Her purple-tinted deep blue eyes were narrowed at the destroyer still magnified, “Patch me through to the destroyer.”

Four watched her closely, but did as asked, “This is the _Forest_. Please, respond. This is the _Forest_. Please respond.”.

He blinked when on the screen there was a message from their ‘android’: ‘MESSAGE RECEIVED. COUNTERMEASURES BEING TAKEN.’.

He opened the communication even as he tensed at the voice coming from the destroyer, “This is Commander A of the _Thunder_. Took you long enough, yo.”

_Countermeasures?_

Two leaned over her console, eyes intent on the destroyer as if she could see into their bridge, “Apologies. What can I do for you, Commander?”

DEFENSIVE

There was a lazy silence, “Apologies from the leader of one strong force to another is not a sign of a lasting leader among your type, Uzumaki. The Daimyo would prefer that you remain in charge over those two loose cannons of yours, yo.”

_Return to the shuttle; we need to regroup. The Daimyo sent a Commander and a destroyer._

Two gave a flat glare, “I was being polite considering I blatantly ignored your previous hail.”

COMMANDER A AND THE _THUNDER_. INFORM TWO THAT HE SENT OUR PREVIOUS ATTACKERS – THE GOLD AND SILVER BROTHERS, A PAIR OF MERCENARIES – AFTER US. AFTER HER TO GET THE ‘KYUUBI’.

Four waved her over, letting her read their ‘android’s message, and she grinned with teeth, “Particularly since you were rude enough to send a mercenary pair after us. I assume without permission.”

There was a moment of silence.

Then there was the quiet sound of someone gritting their teeth and forcing bitten-out words through them, “What is your status?”

Two’s glare was lazy as it returned to the destroyer, voice like poisoned honey, “There were a few _complications_ we had to contend with, but everything is under control now. Have your shuttle fall back as _my_ men _finish_ their mission.”

A’s voice was sharp, “That’s a negative, Uzumaki. The Daimyo wanted this done weeks ago – contingency plans have been enacted.”

Two shared a look with Four, “That won’t be _necessary_ , A. This is _our_ show.”

_Hurry up_

His voice was smug, “Not anymore it’s not. _Forest_ , I’m on my way over, yo.”

~

Six had wanted to rush back towards One and Three at the sound of the alarm, but Five had another idea.

Five’s grin was sharp as he waved a hand at where the incoming shuttle was landing – and she returned it.

The few left there to guard the ship had no idea what hit them before they were down and out.

As they didn’t see the flowers blooming at their feet, they didn’t realize their vision swam and they slumped at the fumes – or at the electric shocks to their necks.

And they certainly didn’t see what Five did to their shuttle.

(The few still even moderately aware shuddered at Six’s cackle.)

~

In the warehouse where the crew of the _Leaflet_ had met the colonists, was an excellent ambush site where the soldiers could be funneled without the colonists being overwhelmed; and the crates provided cover and choice sniping positions.

It was where Norio put the armed colonists after putting into effect a heat-sink barrier to obscure the heat signatures of the rest of the colony – modified from its original use against slavers’ scanners.

It was where an armed squad of Cloud soldiers went.

It was where Sasuke ordered a warning shot fired at the feet of the troops’ leader, “That’s far enough!”

The colonists, at Norio’s signal as he walked forward with Sasuke, peeked out from cover in a staggered show of force to surround the men, weapons aimed unerringly at them.

The man in charge narrowed his eyes flatly, “Is that any way to act, after the Daimyo made you such a generous offer?!”, holding up one hand to hold off his men, for the time being.

The Sarutobi that had previously attempted to flirt with Three stepped forward with a sneer, “Generous?! You’d turn us into slaves on our own land! Like we would be any different than the Senju for the Fire Daimyo!?”.

The man returned the sneer, “One last chance to consider!”, communicating well as his men readied their weapons that refusal would be their deaths.

It was a tense stand-off broken by One sprinting forward between the two groups, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on! Hold on, please!”.

He held up his hands in placating gesture to both sides to stand down, and small flowers were popping up into existence around his feet.

No one saw how quickly they took root, burrowing deep, with their focus on One, at how he’d turned to directly face the troop’s captain with serious dark eyes and a quiet intense voice that didn’t need to be heard to be understood, “No one wants a fight here.”

Despite himself, the man leaned away for a moment, then quickly recovered, “You had a job to do, Senju.”

One didn’t so much as flicker his gaze away from the man as Three stepped out from behind the colonists to stand in front of them, leaning on his weapon in what appeared to be supreme confidence and not that he was still a bit tipsy and still swayed some without the support.

The man blanched at the sight of both S-class aligned against his cause, his own gaze flickering around trying to find their other halves as both Tōka and Hikaku had known records of seeming to appear out of nowhere as their more dramatic cousins held the area’s attention.

No one saw the flowers spreading out over the ground, at how some of the roots started to wrap around the feet of some of the Cloud soldiers, to bind them in place out there in the open.

One stepped just a bit closer to the captain, “Well, we took some time to think things through and decided on a change of plans. Take your men and leave. Tell your bosses we’re with these people now.”

The man couldn’t seem to quite get his color back, “You can’t be serious. What did they offer you?”.

One had a far-off look in his eye, a shadow of a memory in his mind’s eye of someone else somewhere else asking him that ‘what did they offer you’ and his response being that he had no choice, before the scene was gone with a blink, “You know what we’re capable of. Think of the losses. It’s not worth it. Find another planet.”

The man was quiet, jaw tight at the threat, “It’s not my call. I’ll have to take this upstairs.”

One was nodding even before he finished, “Fair enough.” – even as Six, with Five at her shoulder and weapon in hand, slipped inside the building, skirting closer and closer to where One turned away from the captain to tell the rest of the current ceasefire.

As such, he didn’t see how the captain turned as if to walk away, hand settling on the weapon at his side, before turning with it raised at One – only to be met by the sharp-toothed grin of Six.

Her figure wavered slightly in the faint air flow, but it was unseen as the light glinted off her naginata into his eyes and he choked on the scent of the flowers blooming at his feet.

Six’s voice was loud and clear as she stepped closer to the small group, grin echoing that of her mirage as she raised her blade high, “You fucker,” and swung, “die!”.

The captain’s head rolled as weapons were drawn on both sides, aimed and fired into the fray.

Three was laughing as he fired his weapon into the Cloud soldiers, boxed in by Five spinning and twirling almost too fast to be seen with arcs of electricity left in his wake and bound by One’s plants. Any stragglers easy prey for Six as she swung her naginata and easily dodged any attacks with her mirages.

Sasuke was right on their heels with a great many of his clan at his back.

The battle was almost over before it began in earnest, the soldiers out-matched and out-numbered.

Three was the one to break the quiet only punctured by heavy breathes and the groans of the injured and dying, “Well, that went better than I thought it would have.”


	7. Chapter 7

Two and Four watched a shuttle launch away from the _Thunder_ towards them.

Four glanced down at the screen in front of him, half-hoping that there was a response from their ‘android’ even when knowing that it was unlikely.

Two’s gaze got narrower and narrower the closer the shuttle got, jaw tight, “Is the ship within weapons range?”.

Four quickly looked at her, “We have an advantage with speed and maneuverability, but this ship is still _far_ from fully operational. The chances we could take on a destroyer as is, are slim – it would be essentially a suicide mission.”, trying to gauge if she was seriously thinking about attacking the shuttle.

He missed how his screen glitched as thousands of terabytes of data began to stream in from the destroyer, but he didn’t miss the message.

STALL COMMANDER A FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE

~

Danzo and Hiruzen were _supposed_ to be setting the seven charges for Tobirama’s plan, but there were _complications_.

Said _complications_ were between them and the last three locations the ‘android’ had listed off for the explosives as he went off for the other half of his plan.

Hiruzen poked his head around the corner not even thirty seconds after Danzo had pulled him back by the back of his shirt and choked him with it, dragging him back behind cover after they’d skidded out in a rush unaware.

“Fuck. What do we do Danzo?”

Danzo was quick to wrap a hand over Hiruzen’s mouth before he could say anything else, hissing in his ear, “Shut up monkey! You’ll get us caught!”.

He grimaced and shook that hand out when in a fit of maturity, Hiruzen licked it to make him let go.

He wasn’t so much being mature in not responding in his usual way - smacking his friend upside the head - as this was  _not_ the time.

Danzo steepled his hands and thought.

It took a few minutes, then he grinned.

It wasn’t a nice grin; it made Hiruzen freeze in place at the sight, dread going down his spine.

~

Two and Four were standing in front of the bay doors where Commander A’s shuttle was landing, waiting.

Four didn’t glance to his left.

“What is ‘Kyuubi’? Why is it worth a Commander disobeying his leader?”

Neither did Two to her right.

“I can’t remember.”

The bay doors opened to reveal an armed escort around a tall dark-skinned man.

Two met the man’s eyes, lips twisting in a toothless smile that just barely hid fangs, “Welcome aboard.”

~

Sasuke was walking through a back room of the warehouse, stopping beside a clansman who had been shot in the leg, “Hey, you’re going to fine,” and passed over a canteen of water, “here, drink up.”

Six and Norio were at the side of another injured, this one a Shimura.

She was quick to bandage the man’s side as he made sure his cousin’s eyes were focused on him, and his grip on his hand was tight, “You have medical training?” She was frowning as she tightened the gauze, ignoring Three’s muttered, “You alright, you harpy?” as he came in with a Shimura carrying a Sarutobi, “Yeah. I guess so.”

If he caught onto how she was surprised on _how much_ medical training she had, he said nothing about it, “That’s great. We could really use your expertise.”

Her lips thinned in concentration as she was careful to make sure the pressure on veins near the wound were tight enough, not really thinking as she reached for an ointment she’d found in one of her pockets and that she _knew_ would help with the blood loss, “My cousins are better.”

There was a small pause as what she said registered, Three giving her a narrow-eyed look as he set his stretcher down, “Nope. We can’t stay.”

One called out from the other side of the room where he’d been ensconced between the two worst wounded, flitting back and forth as he worked to splint the shattered femur of a Shimura without slicing her artery and keep a Sarutobi from asphyxiating on the blood in his own lungs, “Of course we can!”.

His eyes were narrowed at Three and his jaw was set, not seeming to recognize the blood smeared across his cheek from where he’d brushed some of his hair out of his eyes, or that one of the younger Sarutobi adults had taken it upon herself to help by braiding his hair back, “At least long enough to help the injured.”

Three returned the hard gaze, jaw lifting stubbornly, “We need to leave right now.”

Six looked between the two, and passed the small bottle of ointment to Norio before standing now that her patient was as good as she could get him, “Will you stop getting your panties in a twist you two?”. Her lip curled in irritation, “It’s a long fucking hike back to the _Leaflet_ , and you can bet that those _weren’t_ the only soldiers.”

Five was quick to step up from where he’d been off to the side quietly detailing to an older Shimura woman some rather _inventive_ traps that would quickly whittle away a number of soldiers and also warn them of the latest arrivals, to between Six and Three, “Their shuttle is currently _disabled_ , and the few men left to arm it out of commission, but there was only one squad present. And that _was_ a squad, so there have to be more coming and soon.”

He turned to Sasuke, speaking up as Six glared daggers at Three and One was quick to return his attention on the wounded, intending to help until he was physically dragged back as Three’s eyes had been threatening, “That shuttle, you can use it; Strip it for parts, hack the comm signal to get a message directly to their ship to negotiate, or take it into space and leave. It’s yours now, but we can’t stay too much longer.”

Three added on to that, “You got your weapons, but staying was never part of the deal. We need to move on before the Lightning Daimyo is informed about us – people who interfered in his plans – and decide to set bounties on our heads.”

Norio cut off a clanswoman, “Neither was killing those soldiers, but now we’re going to have to deal with the fallout-!” “Fallout that would have been _much_ worse. I saw their weapons; they came here to slaughter. We might have won that battle ourselves, but there would have been many more wounded, many more dead.”

Sasuke nodded, “And thank you for being there. You didn’t have to stay as long as you did,”, looking toward where One was still working to save two lives simultaneously and Six had moved away from Five and Three to help another wounded, “or help as much as you are.”

He turned to more fully address the two clans, both the injured and the able, “This is our fight; we can’t expect anyone else to fight and die for us. These men risked their lives, offered more than we had any right to expect of them. We have weapons and warning, we know the lay of the land, and we won this battle. The first victory is always the hardest, and that’s behind us.”

One couldn’t look at him, biting his lip out of guilt, even as Sasuke held out a hand for Five, who took it after Six kicked his leg, “Accept it, Sparky.”

Sasuke met each of their eyes, “We appreciate all you’ve done for us.”

Three grunted, a faint pink tint coloring his cheeks, voice gruff, “Yeah, yeah. Good luck.”

He frowned, looking around more closely as he realized that he just hadn’t seen the other member of their crew, “Has anyone seen the Snowflake recently?”


	8. Chapter 8

Tobirama ran away from the warehouse after giving the two boys _very_ explicit instructions about _exactly_ where they were to place the bombs he’d scrapped together.

The bombs themselves weren’t large, and actually wouldn’t do more than give somebody light burns, but placed correctly, they would serve their purpose.

He trusted that they would do so – this was their home and their lives on the line – and then take themselves to their grandfathers where they would be safe(r). Even if one of them forgot _why_ those bombs were there at those places specifically, Norio seemed smart enough to figure out what his intent was, and act on that.

Of course, that was well and good considering Commander A’s intent to slaughter, and he’d made sure that the warehouse was the only place they’d could have reported to have found, but a second shuttle had come down on the heels of the first and _that_ was his main concern right now.

It had been headed down not too terribly far from the main camp where the rest of the colonists were.

He had every intention of meeting it before they realized how close they were to their targets.

~

Hiruzen backed up a step at the grin on Danzo’s face, not quite going out from behind cover but close.

Then he narrowed his eyes, “What’s the plan?”.

Danzo cocked the gun at his side, “Distract them, monkey boy.”, and abruptly shoved the other teen out from cover.

Hiruzen took off loudly running well within sight of the soldiers, “Hey! What’s a brat doing here!?”, and Danzo slipped alongside the wall as the soldiers turned and followed the wild cackling of his friend, “Just try and catch me, you flash-chasers!”.

The soldier’s own firing covered the noise of a single gun as the closest soldiers began to fall from gunshots to their back.

~

Commander A sat across from Two and Four, “You were hired to do a job, yo.”

Two didn’t even blink at his accusing tone of _and you didn’t do it but took the money already_ , “Like I said – there were complications.”

He leaned forward slightly, “And continue to do so, yo. My men go down to the planet and an electrical storm breaks out in the atmosphere, and no one can get into contact with them. The self-preservation protocol has been engaged, entry down to the planet deemed too hazardous to survive thanks to said storm, and no more shuttles can be launched. It appears that we must wait out the storm before we find out the outcome of our interest here,” lips twisting in something that could _almost_ be termed a _smile_ , “but we don’t have to wait idly, yo.”

A looked between the two calculatingly, “Ours is a cutthroat business, yo. In this sector alone, we’re competing with six other daimyo for planetary resources for our expanding purview in our systems. Our major rival, the Fire Daimyo, has been _particularly_ aggressive the last few weeks since they got word of who you hired for your crew – and _more so_ when it was let slip we’d hired you for a below-the-board operation. It was rather ballsy of you to gather four of the Fire Daimyo’s most wanted, yo. Word is that if they are returned _alive_ , the reward is set at double what they are worth dead.”

He looked longer at Hikaku, “Your boy here is known to be _very_ slippery in regards to getting caught on any sort of documentation. It wouldn’t surprise anyone that he would slip the net that caught the other three – all of whom are down on the planet, correct?”. He didn’t give Two the time to respond to the question, making it clear he didn’t _need_ an answer, “You see, Uzumaki, you took payment in advance, and then seem to have failed to complete the job in a timely manner or neatly – we heard a message got out from these colonists to the Yamanaka-Nara-Akimichi Alliance – and that’s bad business. I’m willing to call it even, no harm done when the job is complete.”

Four leaned forward, hands shifting out of sight to lightly grasp one of his many knives, “In exchange for?”, already having an idea of what he would request to _forget_ their ‘failure’.

Commander A’s small grin widened, “Turn this ship around and leave immediately.”

Two pointedly put both hands within sight, knowing no one here could _really_ see the faint glimmers of her working a seal on A, “That’s it? Just walk away?”

A leaned back, sensing a victory, “The cavalry will descend as soon as that storm lifts . . and well, it would be better if there were no witnesses, yo.”

Four tilted his head appraisingly, “And our people? You would swoop them up in the confusion?”

A shrugged one shoulder, “Exactly. If it makes it easier, I’m willing to throw in a bonus, just for you two.”

Two grinned with a mouthful of sharp teeth, eyes glittering something mean as she succeeded casting a seal on the other man, “How much?”.

~

Six, Five, and Three walked into the Leaflet with One dragging his feet behind them, “Everyone’s sure no one’s seen him recently?”

Considering this was the fourth time One had asked this since Three had questioned their ‘android’s absence, the other three were getting tired of the way One’s voice had risen to a whine, at how he kept wringing his hands, looking anxious.

They weren’t worried the same way One was, because they were sure that he had just been being led around by those two kids, and he’d prioritized protecting them over returning to them. That if they just got to the shuttle, they could contact him – or Two could.

When One started to ask again, not stepping inside the shuttle and seeming unaware of how the plant life around him shifted and rustled with no natural wind, the last of Three’s patience snapped.

Three turned around to face him, eyes narrowed and glare heavy on his face, “No, fuck face, as I said earlier, _none of us_ have seen him since Sarutobi brought us in to celebrate. _I_ wouldn’t have _asked the damn question_ if I had seen him. None of the Sarutobi or Shimura had seen him recently either, not since those two kids dragged him off asking questions.”

He waved to the side where Five had been fiddling with the communications array, “We’re _trying_ to get in contact with him through his connection to the ship. That’s _why_ we came back to the shuttle, not to leave him behind, dammit.”

Five tried again and again to get the communications system to work, glancing periodically up at the sky as if that would clear up the question of _why_ , “We might have a problem.”

He shoved away from it when he just got the same set of errors, “What?”

Five didn’t turn to look at Six, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, “Well, three- no, four problems. One, the communications array is being blocked. The readings it’s giving me suggest electrical storm in the atmosphere, but uh, there’s none of the tell-tale free-streaking lightning in the sky. Which suggests someone’s blocking communications. Two, it isn’t a blanket cover, because I can tap into the colonist’s communications, just outgoing. Three, regardless, I should be able to if not actually contact the _Forest_ , I should be able to receive a signal ping when I try and fail, or from them trying. But I’m not. _The ship’s not there_.”

Six’s voice was forcibly calm as she stared down Three, who looked two seconds from going nuclear with the way the room had heated up uncomfortably, “What do you mean “it’s not there”.”

Three’s voice was a snarl, angry as his first thoughts had gone towards that _damn woman_ betraying them and leaving them here, “It means the damn ship _is not there!_ ”

Five’s hands curled into tight fists, “The _Forest_ isn’t within range to be registered for a systems ping, or at least is being blocked from sending outgoing messages as well. It’s quite possible it’s either one, and we won’t know for sure until we clear the atmosphere and can’t find the _Forest_.”

There was a heavy frustrated silence for several long moments as they processed that.

It was broken by One, “What was the fourth problem?”

The heat in the room went up a few more degrees as Five clenched his teeth, “I can’t get in contact with him. The shuttle is not hooked up the same why the ship is; it doesn’t have a separate line of communication for him. I have no way of talking with him. I tried pinging him, but all I got was that he was still on this planet and a fair distance away.”

Six rapidly turned and punched the wall, “Fuck!”


	9. Chapter 9

Tobirama reached the colonist’s compound without any fanfare.

If he’d been purely human, he might have worried for a moment that he had been too late, without any ambient noise from what had to be a decent-sized settlement, but he wasn’t. A simple twist of his optics and he could see the bundles of heat signatures.

A quick analysis showed that the compound had reacted to the earlier alarm; a perimeter was well-established with a pair of active patrols, most of the buildings, half of which were already high above in the trees, were empty, and the greater majority of the population had moved below ground to bunkers that nearly obscured them from his enhanced sight.

Someone else might have found a way to alert the patrol near him to his presence as to inform them of an ally, but he didn’t.

He’d already registered the odds that they wouldn’t take his sudden appearance as anything but a threat – as they should in these circumstances – as being below ten percent, with a ninety-seven percent chance they would shoot to kill, and that would be more trouble than it would be worth to avoid and somehow still try to explain that they shouldn’t be trying to. With an eighty-seven percent chance that in their attempts to kill _him_ , they would be left vulnerable to the soldiers’ attack.

He had every intention of going the simpler route: intercept the soldiers before they got to the compound where most were hiding.

As such, he turned his gaze away from the colonists – after doing a basic extrapolation of where the patrols would be and when as to avoid them – and looked for any additional heat signatures.

His lips curled up meanly at the corners once he identified where the fifteen soldiers were.

~

There was a surprised blink from Sasuke when he saw the small group appear from the forest again, two of them ranging somewhere between _pissed_ and _homicidal_ , one just angry, and the last looking completely downtrodden.

Norio made a soft, “Ah,” sound as he saw them, before checking the request he’d sent out to the others in the area, then frowned himself.

Sasuke watched as he made a, “Hm,” noise, put away his communicator, and approached, “I presume you had no luck with contacting him at your shuttle.”

Three’s eyes were red as he started to snarl, “The snowflake’s the least-!” before Six punched him in the shoulder, “Shut the fuck up!”.

It was quiet for the next several moments as they just watched as Three skidded to the side several steps from the force.

Five in particular was focused on the scene, a faint blush on his cheeks as he stared at Six.

Three looked two seconds from murder, “Control your monstrous strength, hag!”, then turned away with a snarl on his lips and an extra force behind each step, but his eyes were dark once more, “I’m gonna fucking see if I can find any more of those bastards around here.”

They watched him stomp his way to the edge of the group, then disappear into the trees.

Six rubbed at her temples, “Fucking drama queen,”, then sat down to further sharpen her blade, muttering not very quietly under her breathe about men and their sense of extra being turned up to eleven.

One stepped forward then, meeting Norio, “We realized we had a few extra problems and some of us are admittedly, not handling it well.”

He stood up straighter, “It seems that someone on this end is blocking communications off-planet, and we are having issues contacting our ship. And the other member of our group is currently unreachable. So, it seems like we’ll be helping for a while longer after all.”

Norio had to admire how the other man made it clear that there wasn’t any real option but them helping being presented without appearing to force the issue that way, “This isn’t your fight.”, particularly as he smiled charmingly with a mouth full of sharp teeth, “It is now.”

Sasuke stepped forward, clapping a hand onto his friend’s shoulder before he questioned their offer of aid when they desperately needed it and they’d had no reason so far to mistrust them, “Well, I can’t tell a man how to live his life, I’m not going to tell him how to end it.”

Five came up to One’s side with his own sharp smile, eyes glinting red, “It’ll take a bit more than a few soldiers to make us bite the dust.”

Six met the two men’s eyes when they glanced at her with a fierce baring of teeth that could only loosely be termed a _smile_.

Sasuke returned the smile in a similar manner, “As will it us.”

Norio glanced towards where Three had left, “With your man, our patrols should be fine for a few days more, but we have no way to anticipate when or where this next attack will come.”

His communicator beeped.

He looked down, mildly confused because he’d _disabled_ the sound alarm function on this for a vibration notification and _here it was, beeping_ , to see a message from an unknown source.

THE THUNDER CANNOT SEND ANY MORE REINFORCEMENTS AT THE CURRENT MOMENT. SELF-PRESERVATION PROTOCAL WAS ENGAGED UPON THE ARRIVAL OF AN ELECTRICAL STORM IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

He read it twice, realizing that whoever was blocking communications had made it look like an electrical storm, something no ship could fly through, and was giving them a reprieve and time to figure out their next move.

Norio held up a hand, “I rescind that – they cannot send any more men down while there appears to be an electrical storm in the atmosphere, so we have a little while.”

Then another message arrived from the same unknown source.

A SECOND SHUTTLE CAME DOWN BEFORE COMMUNICATIONS WERE BLOCKED. CURRENTLY ENGAGING. TAKE CAPTIVES?

There was a second as that registered, another second to realize what the other target would be, a second more for the brief panic before it was shut off, then he responded.

~

Tobirama reached the soldiers just as they saw the compound.

He waited a second to see if they would announce themselves, if they would even _try_ to claim they were acting legally – already aware the odds were three percent that they would act that way considering every other action – then watched as they moved in, catching the muffled sound of silenced weapons shooting inside the homes on the ground.

He approached from behind, moving on silent feet before he caught one man’s head between his hands and twisted.

The man slumped in his grip, and he pulled him out of sight to stash his body somewhere it wouldn’t be easily seen, raiding his pockets for any information and stripping him of his gear and weapons.

He slipped up to the next man and did the same.

And again, and again, and again.

Then he a waited until they’d bunched themselves up, just now seeming to realize they were down a third of their men, circling the wagons as they searched a pair of homes and left a pair of sentries outside each to watch for what was picking them off as a pair of them whisper-argued about their next course of action with such a development.

With a flick of the wrist, a knife pierced each of the sentries’ necks through their voice boxes and sliced their carotid arteries.

He was rushing forward, catching each body as they fell only enough that they slumped with the faintest of noise, then slipped another pair of knives into his hands and darted into one of the homes.

One step.

A knife pierced a throat.

Two steps.

Another knife, another throat.

Three steps.

A neck caught in a chokehold.

He raided these bodies quickly, then moved for the other home before they realized their sentries were dead.

There was a noise of surprise, then a burst of smoke and silenced gunfire.

~

Norio’s attention was jerked away from where he’d fixated it on his communicator, waiting for a response, at loud footsteps coming from deeper in the warehouse.

His hand paused on his gun, blinking at the sight of Five having somehow managed to cross the room and slip behind the two intruders with his baton cackling and just barely not pressed to the skin of one tan temple.

Sasuke was the one to break the sudden silence, “Hiruzen, Danzo, where have you been?”.

Five stepped away once he recognized who the two were, blinking a couple times himself at his reaction time, moving the few steps to the side where Six had paused in her similar rush forward.

Hiruzen was bouncing on his heels, smile sharp and wide, not seeming to notice or care about the splatters of blood that was on one cheek and sprayed across his shirt on both the front and back, “Being a menace.”

Danzo matched his grin, a mean glint in his eyes, “We were setting explosives in several of the pathways down to the reactor. And took out a squad of soldiers.”

Norio’s eyes narrowed even as Sasuke stepped forward and gently wiped at the blood on his grandson’s cheek, making Hiruzen blink and startle at how his grandfather was a couple of shades paler, “Why were you?”

Danzo met his gaze, “Tobirama heard the alarm and came up with a plan. I think he realized the reactor could be a target, and wanted to narrow the routes down to it and make it easier to control the tide of soldiers if we were forced that far back and down in the building.”

The two Shimura smirked, quickly able to follow the potential of a plan like that.

There was a subtle but no less noticeable step away by the Sarutobi in the room at the expression on a Shimura’s face. On _those_ Shimura’s faces.

Six and One rapidly blinked at the sound of the name _Tobirama_ , brief flashes of tens of dozens of snapshots of innumerous memories of an albino boy not even the age of Hiruzen or Danzo playing in their mind’s eye. There was a heavy, tight feeling in their chest at the sound of the name, grief mingled with longing wrapped around a kernel of something a lot like hope.

Neither said anything, neither asked more, unable to find the words to describe why they wanted to know – because they didn’t understand themselves. They had a dozen feelings connected to a name and a faded face, but no understanding what this person meant to them and why they both felt the urge to fight to get to him.

~

Three didn’t bother to pretend to _not_ stomp once he was a bit away from the rest, not particularly caring if he met anyone at the moment – _those_ people he could roast alive if they met him in his foul mood unlike the others.

He was angry – beyond angry really – but why was a bit hard to make out.

He’d always had a certain mistrust towards most of their band – but Two was a special case. Two, he hadn’t trusted at all.

Yet, despite himself, he’d lightened up from his first five urges of setting the woman on fire at the first possible opportunity. Because he’d _wanted_ to trust the others.

It wasn’t particularly his fault that his default setting was to be a prickly, angry bastard – and despite that, even Six hadn’t tried to kill him yet, and he _knew_ in the same way he knew One was the single-most most annoying dramatic fool in the whole universe, that she could kill him in a heartbeat and not regret it.

But now, now, Two had up and _left them_. Deserted them at the first possible opportunity.

He wanted to set her on fire and laugh, but he was almost angrier at _himself_ for not thinking that she would do exactly this.

He may have also been a bit angry at the continued absence of their ‘android’ – who could have contacted Two regardless of if the ship was gone and out of the system, and found out _what the fuck_ was going on.

Despite the blood boiling in his ears, Three still heard the cautious footsteps of military boots and grinned with all his teeth and breathed in deeply.


	10. Chapter 10

Tobirama slowly straightened as the smoke cleared, and turned away from the freshly dead to look at the freshly arrived.

A pair of older women, perhaps around Norio and Sasuke’s age if a little older, stood there with wild toothy smiles.

The shorter of the two, her skin a mocha color, eyed him with bright blue eyes and a leer, “Whatcha doin’ here, pretty boy? Do I need to shoot you too?”

The other woman, pale with cinnamon brown eyes smirked, “It would be such a waste though.”

Tobirama was careful to not let either woman out of his sight, “I’m not the enemy, Akiko Sarutobi,” – looking first at the darker-skinned then her paler counterpart – “Katsumi Shimura; that would be the Cloud soldiers.”

Katsumi lightly tapped Akiko’s shoulder as she oozed forward, completely obscuring the shorter woman for a moment as her eyelashes lowered demurely, “Yet you know our names. One couldn’t help but think you are up to something with information like that.”

He shifted minutely so she didn’t brush her fingertips against his cheek, but didn’t step back, red eyes watching both carefully as their manner couldn’t be described as anything but predatorily, “I met your husbands earlier. Would you believe that your husband,”, meeting Akiko’s eyes briefly over Katsumi’s shoulder, “went on and on about the woman who graciously allowed him to marry her.”

Akiko laughed, russet hair shifting to show a gruesome scar at the base of her neck, “He would!”, then stepped to the side to show an assembled shakujō with each of the six rings faintly glowing and emitting a low hum just outside human hearing, “But not to strangers.”

Katsumi stepped closer, and he didn’t need to look to know that she’d lightly pressed a dokko to his stomach, both tri-pronged edges gleaming with blood, “What is your business here, and don’t lie, we’ll know.”

He lowered one shoulder slowly in a careful gesture to the side, towards the other house with the dead soldiers and to the sentries stashed in bushes a few steps away, “To take care of the soldiers before your people were hurt. My crew assisted with the other ship that came down – I left them to deal with this shipful.”

Akiko jabbed the bottom of her weapon into a bush, pushing the body out of it to eye it for a second, then briefly searched it.

Like him, she didn’t find anything of any real importance, before she tapped at the bracelet on her left wrist, “Sweetheart, can you hear me?”

There wasn’t more than a moment’s pause before Sasuke’s voice came through loud and clear, “ _Darling! Are you safe still?_ ”

Her smile was soft even as she moved to the other body and searched it as well, “I’m fine. Katsumi and I were just dealing with a few pests not even worth dirtying our weapons. We did find someone of interest though, do you know a man with white hair and red eyes?”.

There was soft laughter, “ _Darling, in your mind,_ no one _is worthy of being killed by your weapons. I don’t doubt you could kill a god and still sneer at the sight of their blood on your beloved weapon. And yes, that would be the missing crewmember of our guests. He disappeared just before the attack we weathered not long ago._ ”

Akiko moved inside the building to raid the bodies of the men she and Katsumi had killed, “You would be right, no one is worthy of their blood contaminating my weapon. It’s such a bitch to get all the blood out of small creases and corners. Guests, sweetheart, and you didn’t tell me?”

“ _They are the ones I told you about, who gave us weapons. They had meant to leave, but the absence of the one with you was clearly felt and they were trying to get in contact with him and with their ship_.”

Once she was done with that, she moved back towards them, “Then he is a temporary ally against the Lightning Daimyo?”

“ _Yes._ ”

Akiko tapped her bracelet again, to end the communications, and Katsumi removed her weapon, no longer threatening to gut him at the slightest provocation.

Tobirama gestured to the home that Akiko hadn’t searched yet, looking at Katsumi, “Your husband wanted a captive, and I left one alive. Do you want him first?”

Katsumi grinned, “Yes,”.

~

Six let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding after Sasuke’s wife hung up on her husband, after hearing that their wayward member had been found.

A part of her was relieved he was alive and relatively well, but the greater part of her was embroiled in suspicion.

This was not the first time that their ‘android’ had proven to be more than competent in combat – though by this point, she wondered if it was even appropriate to call him an android or if ‘cyborg’ was better, but what he was for sure, was a tangled mess that she didn’t have the answers for – and while their first meeting could be partially dismissed for being attached to their class of ship and the corruption of the ship’s data, this entire trip wasn’t.

The bomb-making.

The communications shut-down.

Intercepting armed soldiers.

She was smart enough that she’d looked for the barcode that should have been printed on synthetic skin atop a carbon-fiber collarbone at the first available opportunity, and the lack of one had lent to the cyborg theory Two had put forth.

Which still didn’t really make sense because he had clearly been the android attached to their ship, not another crew member. He was interfacing as a ship’s android, and acted in that role, not like he’d been or was their equal.

And even for being an older battle-class ship, he shouldn’t have had software – or the training – to be so adept in these situations – not unless he was more like them than he appeared.

A sense of horror she couldn’t identify for why creeped in at where that train of thought went.

(She couldn’t remember, but Tōka had heard of rumors about criminals set up to be executed turned into weapons of the state.

Brain-washed weaponized cyborg soldiers with bombs in their chests if they ever betrayed their masters.

It had never occurred to Tōka to consider that was what had happened to Tobirama, and only partially because it horrified her to think about such a thing. It was only that she refused to believe Tobirama was dead until she saw his body herself, that nurtured the hope he was still alive.)

Six was brought out of her thoughts, putting aside for the moment her curiosity about _why_ she was horrified about the possible reason the newly-dubbed Tobirama would have such training, by the loud relieved sigh One released.

Five spoke before One did though, “We need an actual plan, because I doubt it will take the leader still on their ship too much longer to realize that the electrical storm doesn’t actually exist.”

Sasuke nodded even as Norio got in contact with his wife to see what information she’d gathered – as he didn’t doubt that she would be interrogating an unlucky survivor of the assault team and thus have new intel.

~ 

Three found himself in a much better mood despite the situation as he picked through the belongings of the men he’d just killed, not blinking twice at the scent of burned flesh and hair.

And because he wasn’t a moron, he periodically glanced at where he’d left a man alive, albeit without hair on his head and his eyes flash-glazed, checking to see if the hog-tied soldier would even _attempt_ to try and escape.

Sadly though, the soldier seemed frozen in fear, eyes flicking side-to-side unseeing as if that would clear the large white spots from his vision faster so he could see him.

He kicked the man after a moment, pockets stuffed full of ammo and a few weapons clutched under one arm, “Don’t start crying on me. I didn’t even do anything to you.”

The man glared through the faint sheen to his eyes, “I’m _not_ crying, bastard.” – seeming to gain a bit of spine back with the insulting but not outright _cruel_ manner inherent to Three – “And what the fuck do you call _your attack_? A spluttering candle-flame?”.

Three grinned with teeth as he grabbed the belt tying arms and legs together, and hefted the man up, “Self- _fucking_ -defense, dumbass. _Nice_ men don’t try creeping through forests on planets they aren’t welcome on with heavy artillery.”

Then he started back the way he’d come.

~

Four considered himself an intelligent man.

Considering the rap sheet he seemed to have, he must be  _particularly_ smart to have avoided capture so far.

It did not mean he’d figured out what Two’s plan was beyond that she was playing Commander A – intending to take the money he offered, and slipping the rest of their crew out from the other man’s grasp.

So, he’d watched as she’d taken the ship and moved it.

He sent a message to their ‘android’, detailing briefly that they’d bought a little time with this play, as Commander A did not seem to have any inclination to risk his ship and crew to prove that the electrical storm blocking communications was fake.

Not that he didn’t think Commander A didn’t have some sort of plan to retrieve the other five, as despite the fact that both of them knew he was interested in getting whatever ‘Kyuubi’ was from them, he did not make a single mention of it, didn’t allude to it at all, nor had gotten anywhere close to talking about the ship that had attacked them on his orders.

Four had thus done a bit of work to piggy-back a connection to A’s ship – and while he was quite curious to know what their ‘android’ had seemed to gather so far, there was not time for _him_ to go digging through the tetra-bytes of data being copied for their benefit, not with a much faster mind already doing so while they had bigger problems – and thus gotten an eye on internal communications. Which was the reason why he knew the exact moment A contacted someone on another ship.

~ 

Tobirama didn’t quite relax as he stepped back and let the two women work their talents on the soldier, who if he had been a better _person_ , he might have felt sorry for.

As it was, he simply tuned out the man’s screams from his hearing while Katsumi made it clear the torture wasn’t for information-gathering purposes, but cathartic purposes, to the soldier.  Akiko just riffled through his things until she got her hands on his communicator and hacked it, casually throwing out a question here and there as she went through the information on it.

He almost had to admire how the man was scared shitless of Katsumi, who took full advantage of it to prove or disprove the information and then expand on his verbally-relayed orders when prompted.

However, he spoke up when a pattern began to emerge about what information was fibbed, lied about, or in general, withheld, having done enough digging through the information he had access to through his hacking of the _Thunder_ , “Commander A intended to kill those of you who resisted, then conscript the fighters that remained to be battle-fodder, and sell the elderly to various labor camps and the young into servitude to his system’s elite for private funds. But intended to make this look like a slaver attack for the greater masses while reporting to have wiped you out to his Daimyo.”

He stepped forward, grasping the man’s bruised jaw and clutching it tightly enough that the man wasn’t allowed even the subtle motion of swallowing, the bone creaking in the tense quiet that rose up, twisting his head to the side in a gesture that made it very clear he wouldn’t take much effort at all on his part to break the man’s neck, “The entire crew of the _Thunder_ was hand-picked, and chosen personally by Commander A. Their mission appears to be hunt and execute dangerous former military personnel that have gone rogue, but that’s not true at all, you are actively collaborating with a pair of S-class criminals that are wanted dead by _every_ system. That mission is just a cover, to be able to gather so many military personnel and not create fear of a coup that such a gathering _normally would_.”

His eyes glinted dangerously because the further he dived into the encrypted and hidden information on the _Thunder_ , the more he recognized what A was planning.

It wasn’t even that he disagreed with why they were – A had thousands of files of the Daimyo’s abuse of power and the reign of terror the man had pushed onto his people for the last couple of decades, and he knew this wouldn’t be even a third of them, that this was just A had managed to salvage from what had been recorded – but there was the simple fact that he was ruthless and perpetrating exactly what he was protesting.

His lips twisted up to show a flash of his teeth as he contacted Two with a plan better than simply sending back the heads of those on the _Thunder_ to the Daimyo and fleeing into the dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Speculation is a wonderful thing, feel free to rant and rave what you think the bigger picture is - what some of the unexplained details are.  
> I mean, writing 'android' every time means something, right?


End file.
